A senior Congress legislator was assaulted on Wednesday in Kerala's Pathanamthitta district by a group of people whom the legislator described as activists of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

"There were lot of people and I could recognise some. But many of the attackers
were not from here. I have come to know that they are RSS workers," alleged K Sivadasan Nair, who is undergoing treatment at a government hospital in Aranmula, near district headquarters town of Pathanamthitta, about 105 km from in Thiruvananthapuram.

The attack took place when the legislator was going to inaugurate a temple festival in Aranmula.

Speaker of the Kerala Assembly G Karthikeyan has asked state Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan to conduct a probe.

Condemning the incident, chief minister Oommen Chandy said strict action would be taken against Nair's attackers.

The Congress party has called for a dawn-to-dusk shutdown in the district on Thursday to protest against the attack.